trephine
pronunciation
How to pronounce trephine in British English:
UK [trɪ'faɪn]
How to pronounce trephine in American English:
US [trɪ'faɪn]
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- Noun:
- a surgical instrument used to remove sections of bone from the skull
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- Verb:
- operate on with a trephine
Word Origin
- trephine (n.)
- an improved kind of trepan, 1620s, from French trephine, which is said to be from Latin tres fines "three ends," but perhaps rather an arbitrary diminutive of trepan. As a verb from 1804. Related: Trephining; trephination.